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Florence School program earns statewide honors

The Launch Program and 12 for Life provide students with career internship and apprenticeship experiences with businesses in The Shoals and beyond.
Credit: Florence High School
Florence High School

FLORENCE, Ala. — Florence High School’s Career Tech department received statewide recognition in September for their work-based learning programs Launch and 12 for Life.

The Launch Program provides students with career internship and apprenticeship experiences with local and regional businesses to promote knowledge, skill improvement, and personal development. AlabamaWorks awarded the Launch Program the Innovator Award.  

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AlabamaWorks said Launch’s innovative approach to workforce development will be key to opening doors, breaking barriers, and propelling Alabamians forward. Partnerships and Workforce Innovation Director Dr. Corey Behel is proud of the program’s progress. “They’re generating college and career outcomes. It’s giving students experiences that typically they would not be exposed to during the high school setting.” 

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12 for Life has been recognized as a Work-Based Learning Regional Best Practice. Southwire is one of North America’s largest wire and cable producers. The company’s partnership with Florence City Schools is the 12 for Life Program, which offers students on-the-job experience in their manufacturing facility in the Florence-Lauderdale Industrial Park. 

“For that particular program, we did submit data because the program communicates data to people,” Behel said. “We just can’t say we have a good program; we’ve got to substantiate it with data in terms of career outcomes, college outcomes, scholarships, and their production efficiency. We’ve got to show that we’re impacting their academic performance.”

Florence City Schools’ 12 for Life will compete with Wallace State Community College, Alabama A&M University, and Reach and Teach for the Governor’s Seal of Excellence in Work-Based Learning on October 20, 2022, at Athens State University.

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